Auld Lang Syne

Kat
December 31st is my “dark day”. Remember how on Gilmore Girls everyone in town knew about Luke’s “dark day”. Welp, mine is just around the corner.

One year I spent my dark day in Times Square for eleven hours. No food. No bathroom. One degree. That could have started my disdain for New Year’s Eve.

Maybe this is just for me personally, but this year hasn’t been the best. I don’t know how the rest of the world is doing. Maybe everyone is thriving, and I’m just self-centered. Kidding. Obviously. From March to December it has felt like this..

Caroline and I wanted to spend some time and pull out the good parts of this year for each of us-a “best of”, if you will.

Best Thing I Watched

We have all watched a lot of tv this year, and my shows from March to November were all various and sundry. BUT my favorite was “Love on the Spectrum”. It was a reality show about young adults in Australia who were on the autism spectrum and starting to date for the first time. If you need a feel good watch, this is it.

Best Thing I Ate

I’m not a cheese fan. I could honestly live my life without it. Sorry to all my lactose intolerant friends. HOWEVER, goat cheese would be missed and missed greatly. The best things I ate this year both involved goat cheese. I had fried goat cheese off the coast of Ireland in early March (not to brag or anything), and I had a goat cheese and rosemary donut in my apartment in Atlanta. (Sidenote: my mom just came in the room where I writing this post and read about what I ate. She said, “You had a sad culinary year.” Rude.)

Best Thing I Listened To

Podcasts. Lots and lots of podcasts. In March, I started keeping a log of how many miles I covered, both walking and running. I could kick myself that I didn’t continue because I can’t imagine how much ground I covered in the streets of Atlanta. I listened to some favorites and discovered a lot of new favorites too because I was like the Forrest Gump of the ATL. “One day, for no particular reason, I decided to go on a little run.” Some newer favorites-Gilmore Guys, Annie and Eddie Keep Talking, and An Oral History of The Office.

Best Thing I Read

“On the Bright Side” by Melanie Shankle. I adore her and her writing style. If you need some easy, fun reads during this weird week before we all get back to reality, get any and all of her books.

Best Thing I Bought

Both of the best things I bought are on wheels. On January 2nd I traded in my beloved car, Rhea Perlman for my new best bae, Hyundai Boo Boo. You know how usually you have a cute photo of you with your keys and your new car about to leave the lot? Well, I don’t have that. I had a panic attack buying Hyundai Boo Boo. I had to go outside and run laps around other cars in the lot to try and calm myself down. I kept calling my salesman Ursula because I told him he was making me sign my life away, and I also made a Michael Scott buying a coffin reference. I have commitment issues, can you tell?

This was a way more fun and less daunting purchase. I was discussing my hatred of the new year with a newer friend. She said, “you should resolve to skate more in 2021. Do you skate? You seem like a skater.” That was all she needed to say. I was on Amazon and priming roller blades to my parents’ house, so they’d be there when I came home for Christmas. I convinced my best friend to join. Do you need more fun for the new year? Do you want to reconnect with you inner child? Get roller blades.

Best Thing I Saw

I don’t want to be this person, but I’m going to be this person. I went to Ireland very spur the moment the week before the world shut down. Won’t HE do it? I saw many magnificent things, but the best had to be the Cliffs of Insanity, sorry. The Cliffs of Moher.

Best Thing I Did

My friend Whitney, the one who bought roller blades with me, ran her first marathon in October-Halloween to be exact. I’ve run three marathons, and I know the toll it takes on you physically and mentally. Having a cheering section means SO MUCH. Her sister, Savannah, and I got up early, and I put on costumes because #halloween and also because #me, and we tracked her on WhatsApp to meet her at checkpoints. We made quite a few friends that day. When we were at the finish line, people kept coming up to us saying, “my friend is about to finish. Y’all are such a good cheering squad, can you cheer for him/her?” Ummm absolutely! It was truly one of my favorite days of 2020.

A lesson learned on that day: we all need encouraging-even if it’s from a low budget brunette Britney Spears impersonator. Encourage your people (and strangers) more in 2021.

What were some of your “best of” moments of 2020? I would love to send you a gift card for a down payment on your roller blades. Comment your moment, and I’ll pick my favorite and do just that. And come back on Wednesday for Caroline’s “Best Of 2020”.